Opinion: Rubio Has Power to Broker Peace, but Isn't Using It

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the standing to broker peace in some of the world's most urgent conflicts but has largely avoided direct involvement, according to a Guardian opinion column by Simon Tisdall published Sunday.

The piece argues that Donald Trump's foreign policy is faltering on multiple fronts: the Iran military campaign has not achieved its goals, energy and food prices remain elevated, and Israel this week rejected Trump's latest Gaza peace proposals days after he touted a "historic breakthrough." Russia's attacks on NATO allies are intensifying, and the Ukraine war is entering its fifth year.

Despite these openings, Tisdall writes, Rubio has largely ceded negotiations to other figures — leaving Ukraine and Gaza talks to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and Iran diplomacy to Vice President JD Vance, seen as Rubio's chief 2028 rival. The column contrasts Rubio with past secretaries of state such as Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Antony Blinken, saying Rubio instead favors imposing US terms on other nations rather than pursuing traditional peace processes.

The column cites a February speech in Munich in which Rubio criticized the decline of "the great western empires" and warned Europe faced "civilisational erasure," arguing this reflects a doctrine of American primacy rather than diplomacy.

Tisdall also points to shifts in Rubio's positions over time — from China hawk to more conciliatory stance, and from criticizing Barack Obama's Iran nuclear deal to backing a similar accord — as evidence of what his biographer, Manuel Roig-Franzia, describes as political "slipperiness" rooted in a need to be on the winning side.

The column concludes that Rubio has a rare opportunity, given Vladimir Putin's weakened position and Benjamin Netanyahu's political troubles ahead of Israeli elections in October, to push for a Ukraine ceasefire and a renewed Gaza peace framework, but has so far declined to seize it.